Trojan War
By N.S. Gill, About.com Guide
Homer
A blind bard called Homer is credited with writing ancient Greece's two major epics, the Iliad and The Odyssey.
Judgment of Paris
The Judgment of Paris set the Trojan War in motion. You may find elements similar to the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty.
Abduction of Helen
Hospitality was important in the ancient world. Without certain standards of expected behavior on the part of host and visitor, anything could happen, as, indeed, it did when the Trojan prince Paris, a guest of King Menelaus, stole Menelaus' wife Helen.
The Action of the Trojan War
The Trojan War itself took ten years. The gods ranged themselves on either side, especially after the humans offended their pride, and occasionally got involved in the conflict. The Greeks had no chance of winning without Philoctetes and his arrows of Hercules.
Trojan Horse
The Trojan War was won after the Greeks tricked the Trojans into accepting their gift, the wooden horse housing armed men.
The Return of the Greek Heroes
The Odyssey is the title of a work about the return home of the crafty Greek hero Odysseus and his ultimately happy reunion with his faithful wife. There were other returns that are worth knowing, as well.
Homeric Society
The society in which Homer lived and that about which he wrote were different. Elements of his own time, the Archaic age, colored Homer's look at what we call the Homeric age, from roughly 1400 to 800 B.C., when the Mycenaeans dominated the landscape.